25 November 2008
KENYA : Desportivo sink KPA
By Oscar Pilipili
Deolinda N’gulela shook off waves of defenders in a 20-point effort that helped Desportivo of Mozambique beat national champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 67-49 in Fiba Africa Championship Cup for Women.
N’gulela made four three -pointers out of nine attempts, with three of them coming in the third period of the match watched by 200 fans at Nyayo National Stadium.
Sokhna Liksy added 12 points for the defending champions Desportivo who finished at the top of Pool ‘B’ with maximum points from five matches.
KPA top scorer
Veteran Joyce Makhungu was the highest scorer with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the KPA side that had only one player with two digit points in the match yesterday. Both Desportivo and KPA had qualified for the quarterfinals scheduled for tomorrow and the match was for ranking purposes.
When asked to assess his centre player N’gulela, who has emerged as one of the best three pointers in the Championship, Desportivo coach Nasir Saleh said: "She (N’gulela) is a great team player and I believe her performance was up to our expectations."
About their chances in the event, Saleh said: "Desportivo is a team of young players and their target just like the rest of the participants here is to win the Championship."
KPA coach Anthony Ojuku said: "My team played very well today considering that we were facing one of the greatest teams on the continent."
Ojuku expressed concern over KPA’s failure to utilise their chances. The Kenyans converted only five out of their 14 free throws (35.7 per cent) while the Mozambicans sunk 19 out of 31 (61.3 per cent).
Ojuku said: "It is not good for us to miss to convert easy positions that come our way and we must find a solution to this problem."
He singled out Helen Okech and Carolyn Mureji as the most outstanding players in the match against Desportivo.Earlier, Victory Club of Congo beat Kampala City Council (KCC) 61-57 in a match that pitted the last two teams in pool ‘B’.
Mikeno Ngono had 24 points including four three pointers for Victoria while teammate Kalanga Tsinyangu had 18 points to her name.
Miriam Mahala was the highest scorer for KCC with 22 points followed by Berky Akullo and Annett Nabatanzi who contributed 12 points apiece.
Cotton Sportiff d’Abijan (CSA) of Ivory Coast overcame Patriotic Army of Rwanda (APR) 82-55 in the last match of Pool ‘B’ to end up in the runners-up position.
Teams that have qualified for the quarterfinals from the pool are: Desportivo, CSA, KPA and APR who are featuring two Kenya students- Purity Auma and Brenda Wasuda.
D’AGOSTO LEADING
Primero D’Agosto of Angola were leading with eight points after the first four matches in a tough Pool ‘A’.
Primera d’Agosto of Angola, First Bank (Nigeria), Djoliba (Mali) and ABC (Ivory Coast) are teams that have qualified from a tough Pool ‘A’.
They were still playing last group matches by the time we went to press. Eagles Wings, who were the other Kenyan team, bowed out of contention by losing all their matches. The Championship takes a break today and resumes tomorrow with quarterfinals.
Deolinda N’gulela shook off waves of defenders in a 20-point effort that helped Desportivo of Mozambique beat national champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 67-49 in Fiba Africa Championship Cup for Women.
N’gulela made four three -pointers out of nine attempts, with three of them coming in the third period of the match watched by 200 fans at Nyayo National Stadium.
Sokhna Liksy added 12 points for the defending champions Desportivo who finished at the top of Pool ‘B’ with maximum points from five matches.
KPA top scorer
Veteran Joyce Makhungu was the highest scorer with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the KPA side that had only one player with two digit points in the match yesterday. Both Desportivo and KPA had qualified for the quarterfinals scheduled for tomorrow and the match was for ranking purposes.
When asked to assess his centre player N’gulela, who has emerged as one of the best three pointers in the Championship, Desportivo coach Nasir Saleh said: "She (N’gulela) is a great team player and I believe her performance was up to our expectations."
About their chances in the event, Saleh said: "Desportivo is a team of young players and their target just like the rest of the participants here is to win the Championship."
KPA coach Anthony Ojuku said: "My team played very well today considering that we were facing one of the greatest teams on the continent."
Ojuku expressed concern over KPA’s failure to utilise their chances. The Kenyans converted only five out of their 14 free throws (35.7 per cent) while the Mozambicans sunk 19 out of 31 (61.3 per cent).
Ojuku said: "It is not good for us to miss to convert easy positions that come our way and we must find a solution to this problem."
He singled out Helen Okech and Carolyn Mureji as the most outstanding players in the match against Desportivo.Earlier, Victory Club of Congo beat Kampala City Council (KCC) 61-57 in a match that pitted the last two teams in pool ‘B’.
Mikeno Ngono had 24 points including four three pointers for Victoria while teammate Kalanga Tsinyangu had 18 points to her name.
Miriam Mahala was the highest scorer for KCC with 22 points followed by Berky Akullo and Annett Nabatanzi who contributed 12 points apiece.
Cotton Sportiff d’Abijan (CSA) of Ivory Coast overcame Patriotic Army of Rwanda (APR) 82-55 in the last match of Pool ‘B’ to end up in the runners-up position.
Teams that have qualified for the quarterfinals from the pool are: Desportivo, CSA, KPA and APR who are featuring two Kenya students- Purity Auma and Brenda Wasuda.
D’AGOSTO LEADING
Primero D’Agosto of Angola were leading with eight points after the first four matches in a tough Pool ‘A’.
Primera d’Agosto of Angola, First Bank (Nigeria), Djoliba (Mali) and ABC (Ivory Coast) are teams that have qualified from a tough Pool ‘A’.
They were still playing last group matches by the time we went to press. Eagles Wings, who were the other Kenyan team, bowed out of contention by losing all their matches. The Championship takes a break today and resumes tomorrow with quarterfinals.
# posted by afrbk : 19:12
